Retroanaconda

If you do replace the glass let us know how you get on. I broke my drivers side mirror in 2011 and still haven’t got round to replacing it. Have the new glass ready, so would be keen to see if it’s as simple as I hope! I had planned to use warm water to soften the rubber.

This has a strange parallel to a problem I had on my Focus recently. There is a pressure sensor on the power steering pump that failed and allowed oil to leak out through it. I was 150 miles from my tools/workshop and so tried to effect a temporary fix using epoxy to plug up the sensor. Unfortunately the pressure/temperature (or both) was too much and it leaked again after a short while. Once home in another vehicle I managed to drill out the innards of the sensor and tap it M5 then fitted a cap-head screw with a copper washer. Of course by this time the replacement part had arrived but never mind... At least you can drive it without the O/D engaged to get you home, I presume?

Probably because it’s a well known issue so there may have been a goodwill gesture to be had. I fear though that that is unlikely. Land Rover have no interest in it - they had nine years to fix it and didn’t bother, in the end Ashcroft did as above. If it wasn’t such a shoddy design it would be funny. Years after the well-known issue with improper lubrication of the LT77/R380 output shaft was solved with the cross-drilled input gear they manage to recreate the problem in a different way with the naff MT82 bodge-tastic spud shaft.

Was good to meet you too Ian. Hope the car is behaving itself now

Very common on Tdci-engined vehicles I’m afraid.

Looking good. Glad to hear that Mazda fire up! 👍

I presume you’ve tried fitting them from the other side and putting the nuts on the constrained side? Definitely refit the strut if it is operational - it’s a far better setup when working than the later progressive springs. Problem is they’re usually not working as above

I know how you feel man, I keep getting done for murder so I’ve had to blunt all my kitchen knives

For some reason on later 90s they reverted back to the two-piece design. Maybe someone found a crate of them out the back of the factory somewhere. Fitting the one-piece design from an earlier 90 or a 300Tdi Disco for example will eliminate the issue.

Doesn’t sound like a good prognosis but you never know. First step for me I think would be to whip the rocker cover off and have a look at the condition of the rocker gear.

Did it lose enough oil that it ran dry, and the oil pressure warning light came on?

A 300Tdi crossmember (Richards option) may well have bolt-through fixings for the towbar rather than the captive nuts that the Td5 and onwards use. Requiring some form of access to the back of the crossmember.

The Td5 90 setup is designed to be dropped in from the top and indeed the rear tub actually holds the tank in place. This is in contrast to the 110 setup which goes in nice and easily from underneath. I’ve seen people modify the 90 setup so that the carrier bolts to the underside of the cradle rather than sits on top, this allows the tank to be slotted in easily from below.

Is it going spare Ed? The reason I’ve got a spare 200Tdi one is that since changing the chassis/engine/gearbox etc. I now need a 300/Td5/V8 one

V8 prop is different to 200Tdi. 200Tdi is the same length as earlier 4-cylinder models (2.5NA/TD). V8 is same as 300Tdi and early Td5 (up to end of Salisbury rear axle). Later Td5 and Tdci with Rover rear axle uses yet another size - I believe the latter may also be phased differently due to the drivetrain being an an angle but I’m not 100% sure as I’ve never needed to look it up. I have a 200Tdi 110 rear prop going spare in the shed - if it’s any use to you Ian?

There’s usually sufficient fuel in the injection pump to start the engine and tick it over while the lift pump refills the rest of the system. Might cough and splutter a bit while doing so.

I seem to recall some kind of sealant being required. They are a press fit however that won’t be 100% oil-tight so something else will be needed.

Trailer tell tale flashing once is normal. Smoke doesn’t sound excessive, don’t worry about that for now. Steering sounds like the biggest issue. It will never handle like a sports car but that is excessive play and vagueness. Check all the joints in the steering arms as suggested and also axle bushes. If you pop up your rough location you may find someone with some more experience is willing to come have a look for you.

Thanks to Ross of this parish I now have some nice stainless studs that are almost an exact match dimensionally for the longer originals. Got some standard studs for the short ones already, plus some longer ones to cut down if the stainless ones didn’t work out. I also have some standard brass nuts and some self-locking copper-flashed nuts. So plenty of choice!

It is a standard factory tyre size so the answer to your question is yes. You'll need to adjust the steering stops to prevent the tyres rubbing on the radius arms though.

I bought a Defender one from them, nicely made and all proper metal. Chucks out loads of heat. Only very minor issue was that the pipes were parallel rather than slightly splayed as per original which made getting the hoses on a bit of a faff. But otherwise no problems with it.

I have a vague memory that the bolts holding the transfer box onto the back of the gearbox are inside the casing and require removal of the transfer gears to access. Could be wrong though! The workshop manual will detail the dismantling procedure so you should be able to asses what’s required from that.

Ah, just realised you are talking about the backs falling backwards. I think there are rubber buffers at the bottom that they sit against, at the rear of the seat base cushion.

Does it not sit against the tabs on the centre seat?

About £30-40 each I think. I got them from Britcar.